As fall comes to a close and the holiday season approaches, many teenagers are nostalgic for what the holidays used to be. The “best eight days of the year” for some, while for others, it meant sleepless nights waiting for Santa and his reindeer to place presents under the gleaming tree. But now we have stopped believing—and we have started to reminisce. As a teenager, much of that “holiday magic” is, unfortunately, gone. And even more gone than the spirit of holidays is that of Halloween. Where has our Halloween magic gone?
I can vividly remember feeling ecstatic when Halloween was near. As a child, it meant wearing fun costumes, participating in local parades, and trick-or-treating with friends. It meant eating handfuls of candy without judgment and dressing up as a character from my favorite Disney movie. But things have changed. My anticipation has dulled. I no longer go trick-or-treating, and I no longer anxiously wait until the exhilarating moment my mom and I would pick my costume of the year off the Party City wall.
The childhood I remember no longer exists, as Party City has shut down, leaving my excitement for Halloween in the dust. I also used to put in an immense amount of effort into the town’s pumpkin-carving contests. Then, I would drive down to Inness Road, spending hours going from house to house, filling my pumpkin-shaped bucket to its edges. Later, I would go home exhausted but excited to dump piles of the candy I collected on the floor, carefully choosing to swap my Twix for my sister’s Twizzlers. I was once spellbound for Halloween, mournfully, but that “spell” has now faded.
What used to be the best 24 hours of the year is now any other day. What used to be a school day full of themed activities and celebrations has turned into an ordinary school day full of tests and quizzes. What used to be an afternoon full of trick-or-treating and excessive candy consumption has become an average afternoon full of extracurricular activities and homework. The difference between October 30th and October 31st used to be drastic—now the two days feel exactly the same.
Seeing children dressed in adorable costumes, walking down the streets of Tenafly with pumpkin-totes in hand, will undoubtedly trigger nostalgia in many. Through the dreariness of my household window, I will watch the joyful kids knocking door-to-door asking, “Trick or treat?” This almost makes me feel as if I have lost the carefree essence of my youth: the serene, exciting atmosphere that used to accompany my favorite day of the year has disappeared. Although many teenagers attend parties in celebration of the holiday, it simply does not suffice for the quintessence of Halloween.
When I was young, I did not realize how important it was to live each moment as if it were my last. I never truly soaked in the present, and instead wished for my teenage years to come quickly, but now that they are here, I would do anything to go back in time and relive the perfection of my childhood. Whether it was the car rides going ghosting, or carelessly running around the neighborhood at twilight, soon, it would all fade. Ironically, by the time I realized it, it was far too late. The holiday had lost its spark, the one thing that made it so special. Time is a thief: it steals what we hold most precious, what we thought we could have forever.
